Luxa and the Last Prophecy
by The Real Mark
Summary: Gregor is going crazy missing all of his friends in the Underland. But what will happen when a prophecy is revealed foretelling the Underland coming to him? I stink at summaries. First fanfic. Please read and review flames welcome! GregorxLuxa
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, this is my first fanfic on my third account. I hope this one flies, unlike the other two. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this way cool Underland stuff, as much as I wish I did. **

Gregor bit his lip nervously. Even after all he had been through in the Underland, confrontation was not something he enjoyed. And when it was forced, he was usually soaring around on Ares with sword in hand, not sitting at the table in front of his anxious-looking dad and impatient looking mom, who sighed.

"Just spit it out, Gregor," she said.

He thought about the request he was about to ask, the one he'd been planning for weeks. With his grandma in such a critical condition, his parents had decided not to move to Virginia. But even at home in New York, life had not been a picnic. In fact, living in the modern world again was a whole lot harder than fighting in wars, fulfilling prophecies as a warrior, and other basic survival techniques he had gone through in the Underland. It had because a daily struggle for Gregor to act like a normal 12-year old, Overland kid, to control his instincts as a natural-born killer and focus on not lashing out at total strangers on the street.

School was out of the question completely. He had barely made it through the first day and totally flipped out half-way through the second, tackling a kid in the hallway and setting fire to the science wing, destroying hundreds of dollars worth of equipment. The school had expelled him immediately, and it was only his family's grim condition that had kept the school from taking them to court. Since then, he had been confined to the house with his mom, dad, and Boots.

Not that he cared. No matter where he was in the Overland, his mind was in the Underland, with Mareth, Vikus, Temp, Hazard, Lapblood, Ripred, Aurora, Luxa…he even sometimes missed the two fireflies Photos Glow-Glow and Zap, annoying as they were, because they were part of the Underland, and the Underland was where he wanted to be.

When Gregor had first thought about where he wanted to live, there had been bad points to either side. But the more he thought about living in the Underland, the better of an idea it seemed. He had a lot of friends down there, enough so he wouldn't end up like Ripred had, alone in the Dead Lands. He had lost Ares, and that was a huge minus, but with all the rats now allied with the humans and peace to go around, it might be easier for him. Plus, he just missed everyone so much he was going crazy. So he had decided to ask his parents to go back. He knew they would probably flip about, but he had to ask.

Although he had planned to ease into it, ask them calmly and rationally, and negotiate his point, under his mom's cool gaze, he just took a deep breath and blurted out,

"I want to go back and live in the Underland."

He braced himself. But their reaction was totally different from what he had expected. Instead of totally freaking out, they just looked at each other and sighed.

"What?" he demanded. "What?"

"Well, Gregor, baby, to be honest, we expected you to ask sometime," said his mom gently.

"No one can get so involved and connected somewhere and then go back to an old life," added his dad. "You went through so much down there, son, you're more of an Underlander than an Overlander now. We knew you were changed, and that you would need to go back."

Gregor stared at them, completely floored. He had been expecting to have to negotiate his point for hours, and now they understood, with only one spoken sentence.

"So you're just going to let me go?" he asked incredulously, but also hopefully. "Just like that?"

They glanced at each other again. "Well, that's not what we said," began his dad.

Gregor's heart sank faster than it had risen. They didn't understand. They had known he was going to ask. They had made up their minds before he had even framed his request. No amount of arguing would do him good now.

"Son, we know you have a lot of friends down there. But up here is your home. The family needs you."

Gregor didn't want to admit it, but it was true. He was still working for Mrs. Cormaci on Saturdays, and that was basically what his family was living on. Mrs. Cormaci would come over almost every night to cook dinner, and Boots was finally out of diapers, which was a huge relief, but even with that enormous help, they were barely scraping by. This meant no air no refrigerator, no turning on the lights or running water unless it was absolutely necessary, and almost no heat.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but you can't go back," said his mom, squeezing his hand before weakly lifting herself out of her chair. His dad moved to help her, and together they left the kitchen.

Gregor sat still, unable to move. How could he have been so stupid? They hadn't understood. He should have made himself clear. Instead of saying he wanted to go back, he should have told the truth and said he _needed_ to go back. It was unbearable up here. And why had he let them just walk away? He had points to argue and everything.

It didn't matter. They were gone. And he couldn't remember any of his points anyway. Angrily, Gregor stood and kicked his chair in, then stormed his way to his room and flung himself on his bed.

Why had he even asked them to go back? He knew that they would say no, but he had gone ahead and asked anyway. All he had gotten himself now was a deep well of bitter disappointment.

Gregor rolled over. Somewhere inside him, he knew he was being pretty selfish, asking to abandon his family when they were in such a desperate condition. But deeper than his sense of responsibility to his family, there was a sense of responsibility to his friends. And deeper still…there was a hollow ache, as though he had left some critical part of himself in the Underland. He rolled back over, willing the pain away.

_Why did he keep ignoring Ripred? How many times had the rat told him not to come this way? It's too late now, thought Gregor. This is my new nightmare. My light's going to go out, the rats will chase me, and I'm going to fall off a cliff and die. _

_But he was wrong. _

_This dream was different. Instead of the dark tunnels he was used to visiting in his sleep, he was sprinting through a very bright jungle. And his pursuers weren't making the sound of chasing rats, they were making a different noise. These enemies were clicking, clicking, clicking. Cutters. _

_He wheeled around to face them. He was still angry at them for destroying the starshade, even though it hadn't turned out to be the cure. But instead of facing and army of ants, he was teetering on the edge of a cliff. Even while Gregor tried to back up, the pit at his feet grew wider until he was falling, falling, falling. At least this part of his dream was familiar. He gritted his teeth, waiting for the impact. But he was wrong again. A flash of wing, and brush of fur, and he was flying, rising toward the increasingly bright ceiling of the jungle…_

Gregor woke with a start and looked around wildly, disoriented by the dark room. Then he groaned and fell back on his bed. He had not meant to fall asleep, but his sleeping habits were still with the Underland clock. Not that the Underland had any clocks. He wondered vaguely how anyone knew when to go to bed and wake up.

His dream had been strange. Since Ares's death, every night he had dreamed of falling to his own. But in this one he had been rescued. What bat would rescue him in the middle of the jungle? Probably Aurora. She had been there. Or Nike. She would have wanted to help him.

The jungle part had been strange too. He had only visited the jungle twice, and the last time was many, many months ago. Why should he suddenly think of that place now?

It was all so confusing, and it made his head hurt. Frustrated, he let out an angry sigh of irritation. His echolocation lit up the room for him a bit. Just for something to do, he let out a short, quiet click to see how far away his ceiling was. But then something happened that had never happened before, an event he could never have predicted.

Something clicked back.

**Ohmygawd what is it?! I'm sure you smart ones will be able to figure it out, but to be sure, you'll have to read the next chapter. ****J Peace owt. **


	2. Chapter 2

**It's the part everyone's been waiting for: Chapter TWO!**

**I got so far, I'm so proud of myself. Hope you like!  
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**PS: Everyone knows I don't own the Underland Chronicles. *sob***

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Gregor sat bolt upright in bed. That had never happened before. He clicked again, illuminating his entire room, but could find nothing o ut of the ordinary. Had he imagined it? No, there it was again! Something was clicking back to him.

He clicked on more time, and the answering click came from...behind him? He twisted around and "saw" what looked like an abnormally large insect sitting on his billow. It wasn't huge like the Underland bugs, but bigger than any he had seen in the apartment before, and that was saying something.

The bug let out two more rapid clicks before it began scurrying across his pillow, down the bedframe, and onto the floor. Gregor followed it as it crawled through the apartment, trying to be as silent as possible. There was a tense moment when a floorboard creaked right outside his parent's room, but judging by the silence that issued from the other side of the door, they had not woken. Gregor let out a long gush of air and continued on.

He was led by the insect to the door of the apartment. Gregor paused, not sure if he should follow, since he had a pretty good idea of where he was going. But as the bug squeezed under the door and vanished, he knew it would be his only chance. Slipping quietly into the hallway, he shut the door carefully behind him. In the dimly lit corridor, he could see now that the bug was a cockroach. Of course it was a cockroach. It had obviously been sent to fetch him. But why? Gregor suddenly wished he had taken time to learn Crawler from Temp in all the time he had spent with his friend.

The roach led him to the stairwell, and now Gregor had no doubts about where he was being led. He pushed open the door to find the bug had vanished, and sitting on the landing instead, looking calmly up at him, motionless except for its quivering nose, was a large brown rat. Gregor had no idea how the rat had gotten into the building, but he knew it could be no accident. He could see now, however, that the rat was obviously supposed to be the one getting Gregor, and the roach had only been employed because the rat couldn't have gotten into the apartment without causing a scene.

"Did Ripred send you?" he asked the rat softly.

It didn't answer. Of course it didn't. This was an Overland rat. They didn't talk. It couldn't even understand him. But the rat gave a deep, distinctive sniff and, as if in answer to Gregor's question, squeaked loudly. Then it turned and began scurrying down the stairs. When Gregor didn't immediately follow, the rat crawled back up, circled around his ankle like a cat, flicked Gregor gently with its long, bald tail, and went back to the stairs. Gregor followed this time. He had to hustle to keep up with it' the rat could really move.

He was led down to the place he was sure he had been going: the laundry room. There, the rat promptly vanished into the shadows. But Gregor didn't need a guide now. He could see exactly why he had been brought down to the basement in the dead of night. Because standing at the end of the long room, in front of the last dryer, were Mareth and Hazard.

A broad grin split all three faces as Gregor ran to his friends and hugged them both.

"Hey guys! Oh, man, I've missed you so much. It's so great to see you again! You wouldn't believe how hard it's been living up here again. Oh, it's awesome to see you!"

"And you," said Mareth, returning his hug. "It was difficult to become used to the palace again without all of the Overlanders. We are fortunate to find you tonight. Luxa told us that your family might have traveled to a distant place." He broke away and looked around the room with fascination. "What is this amazing place? And what are these?" he asked, gesturing to the rows of washers and dryers. "What do they do? How is it possible to get them to appear so alike?"

Although his question wasn't intended to be funny, and it really wasn't, Gregor laughed loudly. Seeing two of the people he missed most had given him a very sudden good mood. "It's just the laundry room, in the basement. We use these to wash our clothes. They use electricity."

Both the Underlander's and the Halflander's eyes widened.

"My mother spoke of electricity," said Hazard. "She said it was like lighting running through wires, and that it made things move and work without anyone touching them. What are lighting and wires?"

Although there was truly nothing amusing about the situation, Gregor was in an inanely good mood. Trying very hard not to crack up, he did his best to explain. But the expressions of mixed bewilderment and amazement on his friends' faces drove him over the edge. He doubled over, laughing.

"The Overland is truly a wondrous place," said Mareth in awe. "I feel very privileged to be able to visit, and wish only I had more time to spend here. We are fortunate, are we not, Hazard, to be able to see the Overland?"

Hazard agreed. "I only wish I could see a bit more of it," he added. "But we have no time."

It took Gregor a second to process what they were saying, but once he understood, he sobered up immediately.

"Why?" he asked quickly, feeling nervousness twist his stomach. "Why are you guys here? Is something wrong? Is everyone okay?"

"Well, Hazard is only here as translator. He could speak to the tiny crawler and gnawer and instruct them to find you. I am sent to bring you back down to the Underland. Luxa would have come herself, but at this time, she cannot leave Regalia."

Even as his heart leaped for joy at being able to go back to where he wanted to be, Gregor knew something had to be wrong. Luxa would send people, especially Hazard, into a world she knew nothing about unless it was really an emergency.

"Why?" he asked again. "What's wrong? Is anyone hurt?"

"No, no one has been injured. But it is most urgent that you come with us to Regalia today."

"But why?" asked Gregor for a third time.

The answer was one he definitely should have seen coming.

"It concerns a prophecy."

Of course. The Underlanders and their prophecies.

"I cannot say more. Will you come, Gregor? Will you help us one last time?" asked Mareth. His voice was inlaid with an anxious edge Gregor couldn't remember ever hearing there before. And Gregor forgot about his duties to his family completely. He forgot that his family needed him. He forgot that they might fall apart without him. He forgot that his parents would immediately know where he was and find some way to get him back right away. But what he did not forget, what he knew with absolute certainty, was that he had to go back to the Underland. Go back or go insane. So he nodded.

"Thank you, my friend," said Mareth earnestly. "Someday, we shall repay you for all your service to us."

Gregor rolled his eyes. "Sure. Can we get going, please?"

Mareth stuck his head carefully back into the dryer and called, "Andromeda?"

A few minutes later, Gregor was seated on an enormous flying bat between Hazard and Mareth as they sped their way to Regalia.

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**Next chapter coming soon. Hope you liked it. Please review!!!!!!!**

**And ps, blue cheese waffles are good for every occasion. Peace! :{)  
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	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **

**On a tropical island of the dead…  
Henry: Hey, Ares, does The Real Mark own the Underland Chronicles?  
Ares: …  
Henry: Answer me, Ares!  
Ares: Be quiet, Henry! You made me miserable enough in my life and you are NOT going to ruin my death! Now stop bothering me! *Ares lifts Henry in his claws, flies for a while, and drops Henry in the ocean* And of course The Real Mark doesn't own the Underland Chronicles! Suzanne Collins does! How dense are you? *Ares flies back to the island to hang out with Pandora and Thalia while Henry is left floating alone in the ocean*  
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**And there you have it**

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Gregor felt like crying for several reasons as Andromeda beat her wings so fast they were a blur. For one thing, he was extremely happy to be returning to the Underland after months of dreaming about it. But he was also choking up because this flight reminded him strongly of all the times he had flown with Ares. While he tried not to think about his fallen bond, his subconscious kept noticing tiny differences in Ares' and Andromeda's flying styles, which drove his mind forcibly back to the huge black bat. Ares had been a really good person. It wasn't fair that he had died.

Then again, nothing in life had been fair to Ares. Perhaps the only really fair thing was that he could finally escape. Maybe death was the best thing that could have happened to him. After all, if Ares had not been killed by the Bane, he would have been left pretty much alone. Vikus couldn't talk, Luxa and Aurora would be extremely busy now that Luxa was basically queen, Howard would be working around the clock in the overstuffed hospital. And there was no one else who would really talk to Ares. Despite the recent appreciation some Underlanders had started to show his bond, Gregor knew it was only because Ares had saved many would-be rat victims at the battle in the Firelands, and now that the war was over, he was sure Ares would have had to suffer the silence again. Yes, maybe death was the best thing possible for Ares. Now he was not alone. Now he was safe.

Comforted with this fact, Gregor closed his eyes and thought about Luxa. It was now half-way through January. He hadn't seen her since mid-October. It was only seeing Hazard and Mareth again that made him fully appreciate how much he really missed her. Her smile, her laugh, her courage, everything about her, really. He wondered suddenly if Luxa would have to get married to provide Regalia with a future king or queen. Gregor didn't want to admitt it, but that's probably what would have to happen. Regalia needed a ruler. He had seen what it was like when no one was really sure who was in charge, and it could easily be described as chaos.

So Gregor stopped thinging about Luxa and thought about Howard, then Ripred, then Temp, then Dulcet, then Lapblood, then Vikus. His thoughts strayed one at a time to all of his Underland friends, alive and gone. And his thought about those who had died were purely positive, remembering happy things. No negative thoughts plauged him for the rest of the ride to Regalia.

When Andromeda shot out of the tunnel and zoomed toward Regalia, Gregor couldn't help but gasp at the sight of the gorgeous city. He hadn't seen it for months, and it was obvious Luxa had ordered some renovations. Scaffolds were set up along most of the walls, and there seemed to be an airlift of bats going back and forth carrying large bricks to crews of humans who were repairing buildings and roads. Since the streets were nearly clogged with people, Gregor could tell that it must have been the middle of the day.

Upon reaching the palace, Andromeda swooped down to land in High Hall. Once they had dismounted, she flew off again. Gregor assumed she was going to join the airlift.

"Where's Luxa?" he asked Mareth immediately.

"In the prophecy room. Come, we go to see her now."

Despite the fact that Gregor hadn't been to the palace in months, he remembered his way around perfectly. Sprinting ahead of Mareth and Hazard, he ran through the halls as fast as he could. All the people he passed pointed and cried out stuff like "The warrior!" "The Overlander!" and "He has returned!" Gregor paid no attention, letting his feet carry him through the corridors until he was outside the only wooden door in the entire Underland. It was shut. Should he knock? The knowledge that Luxa was on the other side of the door, waiting for him, gave him his answer. He pushed open the door.

There she stood. In the direct center of the room, looking at the ceiling. Silver hair, violet eyes, light blue gown, insanely pale skin, thin gold crown...she was beautiful. When he walked in slowly, not sure if he should hug her or not, she looked at him. Her eyes widened and a smile broke out over her face, making her even prettier.

"Gregor."

Then she ran at him and wrapped her arms around him like she would never let go. He hugged her back as tightly as he could, pressing his face into her silver-blonde hair, and with his left leg, kicked the door shut. They didn't move for several moments, and it was only when he felt his shirt getting wet that he realized she was crying.

Pulling back, he held her by the shoulders and watched the tears coursing down her cheeks with extreme concern.

"Luxa. Luxa, what is it? What's wrong?"

He had only seen her cry once before, on the Waterway, after Pandora died. It scared him to see her break down like this. She was probably the strongest person he knew, except maybe Ripred.

Gregor heard a flutter of wings and saw that Aurora was also in the prophecy room, standing at the opposite end.

"Luxa has been working very hard," said the bat. "It is much work for someone so young. Your coming is great relief to her. It is good to see you, Gregor."

"You too, Aurora." He directed his attention on Luxa again. Now that he studied her, he could see that there were deep purple circles under her eyes. She had not been sleeping well. And she looked much thinner. He suddenly knew that his life in the Overland, however hard it had been, was nothing in compared to what Luxa was going through as queen. She was only thirteen years old. It had to be too much for her. He had a feeling she put on a very good show for her people and everyone else in Regalia, but there had been a well of desperation and fear growing inside of her for months, and seeing him had finally broken the dam.

"Hey," he said, pulling her back to his chest. "It's okay. It's okay. You'll be okay."

She did not speak, but just wrapped her arms around him and wept. He stood there with her, rocking her gently, until she cried herself out and stepped back, drying her eyes.

"I have missed you," she said.

"Me too," he said. "More than you know. I'm so glad to be here." Then he remembered he had been brought down by Mareth, who had seemed so urgent and anxious for him to come down. "What's up? Why did you send Mareth to get me? I mean, I'm glad you did, I'm just wondering why. He seemed pretty worried."

"He has reason to be," said Luxa, frowning slightly as she turned away. "As do I. Come, Gregor. Look at this ceiling."

Gregor stood next to her and looked straight up at the ceiling.

"Do you see it?" asked Luxa.

"See what?"

"All of the prophecies above us are written in very small letters. But look at the way they are organized. Do you not find something strange?"

Gregor stared at the mess of words on the ceiling. He stepped back, squinted, walked around in a circle, and twisted his head to look at the prophecies upside-down. But he couldn't tell what Luxa meant.

"I don't see anything."

She sighed. "I suppose I do not blame you. Very few can see it. It was discovered by Nerissa, early this morning."

"What was?"

"The prophecies are laid out in such a way that if one looks at them objectively, they form words. And the words form another prophecy."

Gregor stared at her, then at the ceiling, then back at Luxa, then the ceiling agin. But he still couldn't see what she was talking about.

"Well, I don't see anything except a bunch of little prophecies."

She sighed again. "I thought you may not. I had Nerissa make something for you. Read you this," she said, and held out a scroll. On it was written a prophecy. It was short; probably the shortest of Sandwich's prophecies Gregor had ever seen. He read it to himself.

The Last Prophecy

_When warrior himself kills with my blade,  
When peace between gnawers and humans is made,  
When young queen and peacemaker unified stand,  
Our time is up in the Underland_

_All fliers and gnawers and crawlers must stay,  
But humans prepare, 'tis your final day  
Leave bonds and leave friendship, leave life and leave love,  
It is time to return to the world above_

_Make for land of the warrior, land of the sun,  
Your time here is spent, all duties now done  
Leave darkness behind and in light again roam;  
It is time again to call Overland home_

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**And that is the end of chapter three. What did you think of my prophecy?  
I'll put the next chapter up if I get five reviews; don't think that's asking a lot!  
PS for you smart ones that means if you want to read more, review!!!!!!!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Now it is time for chapter four!**

**Disclaimer: If you haven't figured out by now that I DON'T own the Underland Chronicles, I will slice you up and feed you to shiners. No, wait...the cutters. They eat anything. :)**

**Also, thank you to the people who left such nice reviews! and Yes, I did write the prophecy myself. **

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"What meaning do you make of it?" asked Luxa.

"Well...it looks to me as though humans have to leave the Underland."

Luxa rolled her eyes. "That much we have discerned, Gregor. But we feel there may be some hidden meaning, for Sandwich was fond of them. Do you see any?"

Gregor read it again, and then one more time, trying to find something Sandwich was meaning by inflection, instead of just coming out and saying it. But he could find no way that the words meant anything but what they said.

"No," he replied finally. "This seems pretty clear to me. You guys have to leave."

She looked at the floor, eyes closed. "I feared as much. But I hoped that it was not so."

He could tell by her face that Luxa was scared. He would be too, if he was just told he had to pack up and move to another world, a world he knew absolutely nothing about. And by the look of the prophecy, it seemed like the bats wouldn't be able to come with their bonds. That would be a pretty terrifying experience for anyone down here. Luxa seemed to be thinking alone the same lines, because she walked over and stood next to Aurora, who wrapped her wing around the girl. Trying to distract her, Gregor asked,

"Who else knows about this prophecy?"

"Very few people, else the city would be in turmoil," she replied. "Only Nerissa, Mareth, Aurora, Temp, and myself. Oh, and Ripred knows as well."

"Ripred knows what?" came a gravelly voice from behind him. Gregor turned to see the door had been pushed open and a huge grey rat with crossing scars across his face walking into the room. "Oh, look, it's my Overland rager pal. I heard someone say you returned, but wanted to see for myself. So, you've decided to come back."

"I've wanted to for months," said Gregor. "But Mareth came up to fetch me."

"Did he?" asked Ripred, looking at Luxa. "I suppose you authorized this?"

"I did," she said, nodding.

"May I ask, oh gracious queen and faithful bond, why I was not informed?"

"I did not deem it necessary. I merely needed to speak to Gregor quickly and saw fit to send one of my most accomplished guards and trusted friends to do the job."

"And Hazard," added Gregor without thinking. "Hazard came too."

"What? Hazard? He was in the Overland?"

"Yeah. He came up with Mareth. Mareth said he was like, the translator or something. Because he could talk to the rat and the cockroach and tell them to get me. Why, what's wrong with that?"

Luxa's face had gone even paler than it already was. "I strictly forbid him to go with Mareth when he asked! He was not to accompany Mareth. Where is he now? Is he injured?"

"What? Injured? No, of course not. He and Mareth came up through the grate in my basement. They couldn't have gotten hurt down there. The most dangerous things in our building are cockroaches, and those are nothing to you guys."

"As painful as it is, I must agree," said Ripred. "There was nothing that could have harmed them in an apartment basement. Relax," he added, for Luxa's face had not gotten any less white. "Look, he's here now."

It was true. At that moment, Mareth and Hazard walked into the room. Luxa almost flung herself at the boy.

"Hazard! I told you that you were not to accompany Mareth to the Overland. You could have gotten killed. Why did you disobey me?"

The boy looked at the floor, ashamed. "I wanted to see the Overland. I'm sorry, Luxa. I was just curious." He looked up at her. "It was amazing! There were dryers and electricity and lightning and wires. You should see it yourself."

It was the wrong thing to say to Luxa, who looked like she was about to start crying again.

"Oh, go ahead," said Ripred. "It's inevitable. You might as well tell him. Tell everybody."

"Tell me what?" asked Hazard immediately, looking excited. Luxa seemed to waver between telling him and not telling him. But glancing around quickly at everyone in the room, she sighed.

"I will see the Overland myself, Hazard. We all will. We are all going to the Overland."

"What?"

"Nerissa discovered a prophecy this morning. It tells of the humans returning to the Overland when the war is over. And the war has now ended, so..." she trailed off, looking around again helplessly.

Hazard stared at her for a moment, as if not sure how to process the information.

"Just the humans?" he asked finally. "Our fliers are not coming?"

Luxa shook her head. Hazard's bright green eyes widened.

"No!" he shouted suddenly. "I'm not going back! I'm staying down here with Philia! You cannot make me leave her!" And tearing himself away from his cousin, he ran from the room.

Hazard's defiance seemed to break Luxa, and she really did start crying again. She turned to Aurora and wrapped her arms around the bat, pressing her face to her fur. Aurora wrapped her wings around the girl, and Luxa was no longer visible.

"C'mon, now," said Ripred bracingly. "It won't be that bad. I'm sure you don't have to leave today. You can probably wait a while before you go up. Prepare to leave, say goodbye and such."

Luxa did not turn around. Mareth spoke next.

"Luxa, this is difficult for you. It will be difficult for us all. But when the people of Regalia are notified, as they must be, they will be in complete disarray if they do not have someone to look to for guidance. You must be that someone. You are queen. You must be strong to show them that they can be strong as well. If their queen cannot cope, how will they be able to?"

Luxa did not move for several minutes, but she must have been thinking it over, because eventually she stepped back.

"You are right, of course, Mareth," she said. "We must tell them. It is inevitable. Come. Let us go." And she began to walk toward the door. Gregor ran to walk next to her, and Ripred, Mareth, and Aurora followed. While they walked down the corridor, Gregor asked,

"Hazard bonded? With a bat named Philia?"

She nodded. "They met shortly after the you left for the Overland. She also lost her parents in the war. They became friends quickly and bonded faster than any other pair I have known," she said.

In all the time Gregor had been shut up in the apartment, he had been doing some research. All of the bats in the Underland seemed to be named after some sort of Greek god or goddess or something like that. He had taken the time to almost memorize the incredibly long list he had pulled up from somewhere. He knew that Ares had been the god of war, and nobody had really liked him. Athena, who's name was given to the queen of the bat colony, had been goddess of wisdom, and the goddess Nike had been often affiliated with her. Thalia, the bat Hazard had wanted to bond with before she had been killed, was named after they Charity of Good Cheer, which Gregor thought fit the little bat perfectly. Philia was a name that he had to think about for the moment, but he smiled when he remembered who she was.

"Philia," he said. "Embodiment of Friendship."

"What?" asked Luxa curiously. Gregor realized they wouldn't know anything about Greek mythology or anything like that. He wondered how the bats did.

"Nothing. How are you going to tell people?"

She closed her eyes. "I know not. I plan to spread the word for all humans to go to the arena, and I will tell them there, but I do not know what to say to them. That they must abandon their homes, their bonds, their lives, and go to a world they know nothing of? I cannot."

Gregor understood, but he had no idea how to help her. He had never been good at talking to people or comforting them. Instead, he just reached for his hand and wound his fingers with hers. She turned to Mareth, Ripred, and Aurora and told them to spread the word about going to the arena. Gregor expected Ripred to protest being ordered around, but the rat trotted off obediently.

Luxa and Gregor walked through the palace, telling anyone they saw to go to the arena. Many of the Underlanders seemed very pleased that Gregor was there. Eventually, they made their way down to the city, which they found was deserted. Doing a quick tour, they checked for any stragglers, but apparently word had spread very quickly. At one point, Luxa just stopped and sat down in the street. Gregor sat next to her, not sure what to say.

"How will we survive this, Gregor?" she asked him. "Where will we go? We have no knowledge of the Overland."

"I know. If it was only a few of you, you could probably stay in my aparatment for a few days, but three thousand people...are you coming today?"

"No," she said. "We need time to prepare. What supplies will we need? You know this far better than anyone here."

"Um, you might want to bring a lot of food," he said. But he knew what they would need, the thing everyone needed to survive in the Overland; money. And Underlanders didn't use money. He had no idea how Luxa was going to feed and house three thousand people without any money.

"Gregor?" asked Luxa hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"Would it be all right if, perhaps, I...came up to the Overland before my people? Just to see what we might require and what we might do when everyone is up there."

Gregor knew she wasn't really asking if she could come up, but if she could stay with him. "Yeah. You can stay in my apartment for a few days, if you need to. I'm just warning you, though, we don't have a lot of food. Hey," he added, for an idea had just occured to him. "You could bring up all the stuff from the museum, and we could sell it. I bet there are museums that would pay buckets of money for some of that old stuff.

"Does one need money in the Overland?"

"Oh yeah. It's practically a basic necessity. But if you can sell all of that stuff, you probably won't have a problem, at least until we can find you jobs or something." Gregor was getting excited now. "Heck, some of that Native American stuff is probably worth thousands! You could all go to a big hotel...I could come by every day to help you get used to the Overland, and then your adults could get jobs in like, a warehouse or store or something, a job that doesn't deal with computers or anything. It could work!"

Luxa smiled a bit at his enthusiasm. "We would be almost entirely dependant on you, Gregor. None of us knows how the Overland works."

"Well, I'm not in school any more. It's not like I have anything else to do. But you guys are going to have to leave your swords and everything. You can't have those in the Overland."

She looked shocked. "Leave our weapons? But how will we survive?"

"You don't need weapons in New York City...well, okay, you might, but not in our neighborhood, and definitely no swords. Overlanders stopped using swords about three hundred years ago."

At that moment, Aurora flew down to them from somewhere.

"Are you prepared?" she asked Luxa. "The arena is full."

Luxa nodded, although she did not look ready, and climbed on to Aurora's back. Gregor did the same, wrapping his arms around her waist as Aurora flew them to the stadium.


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, now it's time for chapter five to occur. And thanks for the person who pointed out I've been spelling Ripred wrong this entire time. Can't believe I missed that. Fixed it by now, of course.  
**

**Disclaimer: ?selcinorhC dnalrednU ehT nwo I kniht llits ot hguone bmud eb uoy nac woh siht daer ot hguone trams er'uoy fI  
**

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**Aurora set them down in the arena next to Ripred, who was obviously waiting for them. The stadium was as packed as it had been the first time Gregor had ever gone there. Maybe even fuller than then. Mostly it was humans who were filling the stands; apparently there had not been enough room for all of the bats, and they were circling very, very slowly above the heads of everyone else. Luxa and Gregor slid off Aurora's back to stand next to the huge grey rat, who eyed Luxa critically.

"Are you sure you're ready? You look like Nerissa."

She nodded coldly. "Gregor and I have formulated a plan on how we will be able to survive this."

"Well, good, because to be honest, I've got nothing," said Ripred. Luxa moved forward so that she was obviously the one about to speak to the crowd. Gregor stepped close to Ripred and muttered so Luxa wouldn't hear,

"I thought you didn't believe in Sandwich's prophecies?"

"I don't," he hissed back. "But just because I don't believe him doesn't mean sometimes I don't agree with him. I think the humans have been down here quite long enough. Regalia is an excellent place for the rats to spread out to. With no more war, our own lands are getting pretty crowded."

Gregor stared at him. "You mean you want all the humans to clear off so the rats can rule the Underland?"

"Hey, I'm being practical here. If they're bent on leaving...I'm just saying it would be nice if the rats had some more space. I'm not going to shove them out the door, but if they're going, I'm not going to try and stop them. It'll be pretty great down here when we aren't third-best."

"Third-best?"

"You think just because we're allies now means that the humans treat us any differently? Please. We're not at each others' throats, but trust me, humans and rats don't like each other any more than they have for centuries. We're not really allies. The humans are still pretty much completely in command. We're after the humans, and then after the bats. If the humans leave..." The grey rat shrugged. "We'd get to be first again. Everyone would be first, really. Without the humans, the bats would totally leave us alone. They don't have any use for the city. You think the crawlers want Regalia? C'mon. They only really started associating with the humans because of your sister, the singing princess. No, the only one who might want this place would be the nibblers, but if the rats get here first, they probably won't even try."

Gregor wanted to say something back, but at that moment, Luxa opened her mouth to address the crowd.

"People of Regalia," she said loudly, and her voice echoed around the entire arena. Not a single creature in there couldn't hear her. "We have discovered a prophecy by Sandwich that concerns all of you here." A murmur rippled across the crowd. Gregor doubted there had been a prophecy specifically describing every single human in the Underland before. They always just sort of mentioned individual people.

"What does it say?" called a deep male voice from somewhere in the crowd.

"The prophecy tells of a thing that must happen when humans and gnawers are allied, when the warrior has gone home. That time is now."

"What does the prophecy predict, Queen Luxa?" called another voice. Gregor thought it might be a bat.

Luxa took a deep breath.

"It tells of the humans returning to the Overland."

Silence filled the enormous arena. It was not the expectant, slightly confused silence of before. Now it was a silence of shock. Everyone seemed to be waiting for Luxa to elaborate, but she looked like she didn't quite know how to do that.

Gregor stepped forward to help.

"I'll read it for you," he called, unrolling the scroll that he had never set down anywhere. "So you all know what has to happen."

And he did that, reading the words of the prophecy in a loud, clear voice so that no one would mishear. When he finished, he rolled the scroll up again. He felt like he should add something else, but had no idea what to say. The silence continued for about three more seconds. Then all hell broke loose. The people in crowd began to stand up, screaming and shouting. Luxa looked totally lost, but Ripred then accomplished something Gregor thought would be impossible.

He stood back on his haunches and let out one long, incredibly high-pitched squeak. It was so high that Gregor had to cover his ears and seemed to have the same effect on most of the people in the crowd, because loads of people shut up and clapped their own hands over their ears. Gregor remembered his dad telling him once that high-pitched sounds could be a lot more audible than low ones, even if they were quieter. Soon, Ripred had silenced the entire crowd, which Gregor thought was pretty amazing. He knew how loud and uncontrollable the Underlanders could be when they tried.

The rat fell back onto all four paws, looking winded. "Go ahead," he gasped. Gregor knew it must've taken a huge set of lungs to squeak for that long without pausing.

Luxa nodded.

"Listen to my words," she said to the crowd, who looked about to start freaking out again. "We must not panic. Regalia has dealt with thousands of Sandwich's prophecies in the past and survived. We shall survive this."

"How?" demanded a voice. "How will we survive in a world we know nothing of?"

"Yes!" shouted another voice. "And without our bonds?"

The cry of "How?" began repeating around the arena, but before it could get out of hand like before, Gregor spoke again.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Listen up! I know this has gotta be scary for all of you. I would be terrified too! But you can't start panicking every time you think about what you have to do. You have to focus or you'll just be sliding backward. Listen to Luxa!"

He shut up then, realizing he sounded kind of stupid.

"Thank you, Gregor," said Luxa. Then she turned back to the crowd.

"We are not leaving this day," she said. "Our warrior has not gone forever. I am going to the Overland with him so that he may show me how to survive. And once it is time for you to join us, he will continue to help us live there until we are able to do so on our own. We will be able to survive, even without our bonds. I am leaving..." she paused, looking back at Gregor. "today. In the meantime, I would like everyone to start preparing to leave. Farmers, you will need to work with the kitchen staff to prepare..."

She began listing off jobs for everyone to do to get ready to leave. Gregor was pretty impressed with some of the stuff she thought of, because he certainly would've forgotten. When she finished, all of the people in the arena began to go off and to whatever duty they'd been assigned. Gregor thought that, after the initial shock, they were handling it pretty well. He supposed after years of danger and prophecies telling them to do crazy stuff, they were used to dealing with horrible surprises.

Luxa turned to Gregor. "When can we leave?" she asked.

He was a little surprised. "Um...now, I guess," he said. "It's the middle of the night, though. No one will be up. Although if we get back before anyone wakes up then they won't know I was gone. But if I come back with you, they'll know I must've been gone..."

She looked perplexed. He didn't blame her. His explanation was confusing, even to him.

"Sure," he simplified. "Let's go now."

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**Sorry that this chapter was kind of short. I wanted to give you guys something to read and thought it would be faster if I kept this one a little on the small side. Hope you like it! Plz review!!!  
Peace and carrots  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six is here! And so you know, school is starting soon, so anyone who is reading this; if I don't put up chapters for a few weeks, it's because I'm really busy with school. I'm in band and drama club, both of which are pretty big commitments, so I may not have a whole lot of spare time. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Underland Chronicles. It's all Suzanne's, dude. **

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Within minutes, Gregor and Luxa were once again seated on Aurora, who was speeding toward the exit in Gregor's basement. As they flew, Luxa asked him,

"What will you teach me?"

He had to think about that for a second. What could he teach Luxa about the Overland? There was really so much she needed to know, he had no idea where to start. Then a brilliant idea struck him; to let someone else have a brilliant idea.

"Mrs. Cormaci will teach you," he decided. "She's so much better at teaching than I am, you'll learn a lot faster with her. But you won't be learning how to fight Overland-style, if that's what your expecting. We aren't at war every other month in New York. You'll be learning how to talk, how to dress, how to basically act like an Overlander. But if I tried to teach you, people would probably think you were a terrorist or something."

She frowned. "A what?"

Gregor was grateful he wasn't going to be the one explaining everything to her.

About ten minutes later, Aurora had reached the long, vertical tunnel that led to Gregor's laundry room. The gold bat gently flew to the very top, stopping at the entrance. Gregor clambered awkwardly off her back and crawled through the grate, which hit him in the backside on the way out. He turned back and lifted it up to help Luxa through, but the young queen looked as though she was having second thoughts. Aurora was hovering as close as she could to the hole, but Luxa was making no move to get off.

"C'mon, Luxa," he said, reaching out his hand. "It's gonna be fine, I promise. But you have to take the first step."

She nodded, and reached out to take his hand. He used both of his arms and pulled her through the grate, and Luxa stepped for the first time into the Overland.

She didn't even look around, but immediately stuck her head back through the grate and called for Aurora. Without passengers, the bat was able to fly vertically as opposed to horizontally and could hover right next to the hole, which she did then. Luxa wrapped her arms around Aurora's neck and buried her face in the golden fur.

"I will see you again," she promised. "This is not goodbye."

Aurora fluttered her wings agitatedly. "I do not like this," she said. "Letting you go where I cannot go as well. I am uneasy."

"As are we all," responded Luxa. "But you cannot come this time. It was said in 'The Last Prophecy'. _All fliers and gnawers and cralwers must stay._"

"This I know," said Aurora. "But that does not ease my mind when I see you leave."

"You will see me again," promised Luxa for the second time. "But now you must go back and assist Regalia in preparing to leave."

They locked hand and claw, the symbol of bonds, which Gregor thought was pretty impressive considering Aurura was still flapping her wings to remain airborne. Then she was gone.

Luxa turned and looked around at the laundry room. Her reaction was almost the same as Mareth's had been.

"What is this place?" she asked in amazement, all anxiety apparently forgotten.

"It's the laundry room," replied Gregor, and then he had to explain all over again about washing clothes and electricity. By the end of his rant, Luxa looked thoroughly lost.

"My dad could explain it better," Gregor said apologetically. "C'mon, let's go. If you're going to live in the Overland, you have to see something besides the basement."

He took her hand and as Luxa squared her shoulders firmly, led her to the door leading to the stairwell. At first, he considered letting her take the elevator, seeing as it might be educational, but decided he would only confuse her even more, so together they climbed the stairs until they reached Gregor's floor. Slowly, he led her down the hall, the same way he might lead someone who was blind, although that probably wasn't necessary. Luxa seemed fascinated by the carpeting and the electric lights that lined the hallway, but she didn't ask any questions. Upon reaching the apartment door, she stopped for a moment.

"What?"

"This is your home?"

"This is where I live," said Gregor, not exactly contradicting her, but not confirming what she said either.

"Just behind this door?"

"Yes."

"Your entire family?"

"Uh-huh," he said, watching her face and wondering what she was getting at.

"So this place is not your home, it is just the room behind this door?"

"Oh," he said, getting it finally. "Yeah. It's an apartment. It's a really big building with lots of little homes inside of it, so a bunch of people can live in the same building but still live apart from each other. They're not just one room, even though they're pretty small. C'mon, I'll show you."

Gregor opened the door and brought her inside.

It must have later than he had thought it had been when he left, because Boots was already up, attempting to pour herself a glass of milk. She was standing at the edge of the counter with a cup in one hand and was trying to wrap her pudgy little fingers around the carton. She succeeded and picked it up to pour into the glass, but the carton was still to big for her and began to slip out of her grasp. Gregor jumped forward and snatched the carton out of her hand before she could spill it all over the floor and waste what little they had left.

She turned, a confused look on her babyish face, but the expression quickly melted into one of joy as she saw him.

"Gre-go!" she squealed happily, and immediately stuck her arms up. "Up." He hoisted her onto his hip and touched his forehead to hers. A few months ago, Boots had finally succeeded in correctly pronouncing "Gregor", but seemed to prefer her own original name, so he was "Gre-go" most of the time.

"Hey, Boots. Up early this morning, huh?"

"I no sleep," she announced. He rolled his eyes. Boots had been getting up before anyone else for the past six weeks, her body seeming to have some unexplainable energy that only three-year olds could have.

"Great, kiddo," he said. "Hey, guess who's here?"

Boots immediately sat up straighter, looking around expectantly.

"Temp?" she asked hopefully. "Temp is here?"

Gregor sighed. It had taken Boots a few days to realize that the family was not coming to the Overland again for a visit, that they were staying for good this time. Since then, she had become obsessed with her crawler friend. Every dinner was silent except for the frequent "Where is Temp?" and "We go see Temp?"

"Not today, little girl," he said. "Brought someone else." He turned around so Boots could see Luxa standing in the kitchen, looking slightly uncomfortable but obviously attempting to hide it. Boots' face lit up like a lightbulb, all thoughts of Temp forgotten.

"Luxa!" she squealed happily, and squirmed out of Gregor's arms to run over to Luxa and wrap her arm's around Luxa's knees in a three-year old hug. Luxa smiled.

"Hello, Boots. I see you have been growing well."

"You is here?" asked Boots, stepping back and sounding a bit confused. "Why?"

So even Boots was able to understand the abnormality of an Underlander in New York. "And it's not like she would get anything we said about a prophecy," thought Gregor. In all the prophecies Boots had taken part in, she had never once learned that she was fufilling the role as Cockroach Princess in poems written by a crazy guy hundreds of years ago.

"I am here to learn," Luxa told Boots, resting a hand on her curly head. "And my people will be soon to follow."

This obviously did not make much sense to Boots, but she giggled and hugged Luxa again anyway.

Luxa looked back to Gregor."It is very bright in here," she said. "What is that?"

She was pointing to the kitchen ceiling, where a bare light bulb was shining dully.

"Umm...it's a light bulb."

"What is-"

"My dad will explain. Later. But right now," added Gregor, having a sudden idea. "you should come with me. There's something you ought to see."

Looking nonplussed, Luxa allowed Gregor to tow her by the hand out of the apartment and down the stairs again, until they reached the lobby. Pulling her over to the door, Gregor opened it and they both stepped outside into the cold morning. He hadn't thought to bring jackets, which would probably have been a good idea. But they would only be outside for a minute. There was something Luxa really needed to see.

It was technically nighttime. But the sky was a clear grayish color, the color it turned right before the sun rose. That's what he was waiting for. The door of the building faced east, so they would have a clear view of it from where they stood.

Luxa was shivering, even with Gregor's arms around her shoulders in an attempt to shield her from the cold. It was never this cold in the Underland, he realized. Another thing he took for granted that would be completely new to the Regalians.

After a few minutes of silence, Luxa asked with chattering teeth," Gregor, why are we here? Can we not go back to the warmth?"

"Just a minute," he said, watching the tops of the trees in the park across the street. "Any minute now."

She was already rubbing her eyes. Even without the sun up, it was already brighter than anywhere in the Underland, except maybe the jungle.

"Here,"murmured Gregor suddenly in her ear. "Watch."

He had spotted the sun, not exactly visible yet behind the scrawny tops of the trees. But after a few more minutes, it had risen high enough to be seen, and warm light spilled down to the earth and touched them standing there.

Luxa the Underlander, at 12 years old, had just seen her first sunrise.

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**And that is all! I'm ending the story here because it's a good stopping point and I'm afraid I'll ruin it if I keep pushing. I really hoped everyone liked it! Please review and tell me your thoughts.  
PS: If I get enough demands for more, I'll consider writing a few more chapters. But as for now, the story is officially complete. Thanks for reading!  
~TRMark**


	7. Message from The Real Mark

**THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER TO READ! JUST SO THATS ALL CLEAR WITH YOU PEOPLE!**

**And now, for a message from The Real Mark:**

Okay guys, so apparently a lot of people like this story and I've gotten lots of requests and also demands to continue.

This message/chapter thing is just to let you guys know that I AM working on a new chapter, and it will probably be up in a soonish-sort of time frame.

I hope you haven't given up on me just yet.

Also, sorry to get your hopes up if you were expecting this to be a new chapter. (Sorry, it's not)

So don't forget about this story, and the next chapter will be up before the end of the month. I'm working on it as hard as I can.

Thank you for your time and don't forget to pick up your free elephant taco on the way out.

Bye everybody who's reading.

PEACE!

**-The Real Mark**


	8. THE REAL Chapter 7

**Hi everyone, yes, this is officially the next chapter in this Underland fic. I'm very sorry for all the delay caused by my procrastination. While you weep your tears of joy that I have returned, I want to let you know that chapters might be a while following each other, just because I'm doing so much shit. So dont bite my head off while I try to keep this story alive for you guys. Thank you, come again. **

**Disclaimer: Je ne suis pas le propriétaire de la Chronicles de Underland. (That's French, for those of you who don't speak it) **

Gregor glanced at the clock above the kitchen table. He was running late: it was already 8:45, and the Underlanders would be expecting him by nine. On the other hand, this was the perfect opportunity to test Luxa's time-telling skills. She had been working with his father to learn what the times of day meant, seeing as specific times and dates had so much meaning in the Overland.

"Hey, Luxa?" he called. "Can you come in here a second?"

"What is it?" she replied, walking into the kitchen from the living room where she had been tying her shoes. He shook his head when he saw her: it was still strange seeing her in jeans and a jacket, with half-laced sneakers on her feet and her skin losing transparency.

"What time is it, right now?"

She studied the clock for several moments, brow furrowed in concentration. "It is…9:45. No, wait, 8:45."

"AM or PM?"

"AM, of course. It is morning."

"Very good. Okay, keep tying your shoes. We're going to be late."

The Underlanders had been in the Overland now for two months. The transition had been difficult for all of them; particularly the bonded humans. Many tearful goodbyes had only been stopped by Gregor and Luxa dragging the humans away, toward the surface of the tunnel in Central Park. Whole families had stood shivering in the park, blinking at the snow and the stars in wonder and confusion, sad and cold and lost.

Gregor and Luxa and Vikus had come up beforehand and sold everything in the Regalia museum to Overland museums, which had earned a lot more than even Gregor had estimated. Enough for the three of them to rent an extremely cheap, rundown hotel big enough for the Underlanders to stay in for any amount of time. Then the Underlanders had been moved in.

For exactly a month, Mrs. Comaci, Gregor's father, and Gregor went down to the hotel every day and taught the Underlanders everything. And by everything, it meant EVERYTHING. Not only did Mrs. Cormaci plan a lesson for everything modern-day, but the Underlanders were also taught a basic world history. Gregor thought it was amazing all the stuff he took for granted that the Underlanders would have no idea of.

Then it was job-hunting time. The ones in the right age-frame who's skin had tanned the most got the simplest jobs - bagging groceries, shelving books at a library, that sort of thing. Then the really super educated ones got better paying jobs: Vikus became a tour guide at the very museum that held the stone knight Gregor had gone to for support so often.

Gregor hadn't thought it would help much, but was quickly proven wrong. The sheer amount of Underlanders now working in jobs around New York city was enough to support the economy of a small suburb. Then there were the really outlandish jobs that some of the Underlanders had managed to find with the help of Gregor's father. Stuff Gregor never would have imagined in a million years. A bunch of 11-year old kids were offered parts in some big history-reenactment troupe because they were seen sword fighting with sticks in Central Park, and then when the troupe discovered that there were adults who also had the skill, they were hired on as well.

It had been four months since the Underlanders had become immigrants to the Overland, and now it was late May. A good time in the year for the kids to be outside more often and not have people wonder why they weren't in school. Today, Gregor had promised to take them on a picnic in the Central Park, and they would be expecting him at the hotel in 15 minutes.

"Okay, Luxa, time to go. Like, right now," he said, lifting up the huge plastic basket from Target that was filled with food. It was everybody's job to bring something, but Gregor knew he would end up bringing the most anyway. Food was the one thing the Underlanders were still not accustomed to.

"Right. Coming," said Luxa, walking quickly to Gregor's side. "What should I carry?"

"The water cooler. And if you could grab the cups; they didn't fit in the basket. Thanks. Okay, I think we're set. Let's go."

Gregor let Luxa lead the way; it was one of the best ways to ensure that she was learning, and that she could remember where they were going. Luxa didn't have any trouble. She walked confidently out of the apartment, locked the door behind her with dexterous fingers, then went through the hall, down the stairs, and outside onto the street. They fought their way cheerfully through the throngs of people that gathered on New York City streets on Saturday mornings. Luxa knew exactly where she was going, turning at all the right corners and crossing all the right streets. When they reached the train, she boarded without a hesitation and got off at the correct stop immediately. Gregor had to admire her adaptation to the NYC environment with a twinge of pride thrown in. She had come a long way from being the courageous girl who had been crowned queen of an underground world, but she had had to use a new kind of bravery this time. Gregor was only too happy to see that she had been able to do so.

An hour later, Gregor and Luxa were sitting in Central park with about 90 Underlanders, mainly children and those who didn't have work on Saturday mornings. Everyone had actually held up their end of the deal and brought food, so it worked out rather nicely. They were seated on all their own blankets, all overlapping each other until it looked like a giant patchwork quilt covered in food and people right in the middle of the park. Luxa was watching Hazard run around in loops, pretending to be a bat, with a small smile on her face. Vikus, Mareth, and Gregor were watching her watch him.

"She has done well these past months," murmured Mareth so Luxa couldn't hear.

"So have you, man. So has everyone. I can't believe it's actually working out for you guys. It's fantastic."

Vikus looked at the ground, Mareth looked at the sky, and Gregor looked at them both. Like the rest of the Underlanders, they had adapted to New York life in ways Gregor never could have expected. And it wasn't a big secret that he was insanely proud of them.

"Luxa! Luxa, look at this!" shouted Hazard, picking up a stick from the ground and swinging it around. "It's a sword!"

"No, Hazard, put it down," said Luxa, standing up and walking over to him. "We should be glad we no longer have to fight, not pretending that we still do."

Hazard looked at the ground, handing her the stick. Luxa threw it to the ground, where it crumpled.

Gregor stared. Sticks shouldn't bend like that. In fact, the only time before when he'd seen a stick break in half that way was. . .

He had a sudden flashback to the same park where they were now. It was the middle of winter, and snow had been everywhere, and a small dog had been parking at a stick on the ground, and Gregor had picked it up and bent it...

Only half-aware of everyone else around him, Gregor stood up and walked over to where the stick lay on the ground. "Oh, man," he thought as he stared at it. "Oh man. This can't be good." Because there was no doubt about it. It wasn't a stick.

It was the leg of a cockroach. An Underland cockroach.

And there was only one thing that could mean.

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**Kind of a cliffhanger, maybe? I don't know. Sorry it took so long. The next chapter WILL come without a 9 month break, I promise. This was the best way I could figure something out without just kind of wrapping up the whole story (that sentence didn't make a lot of sense) but I hope you guys liked it. See you soon.  
~TRMark**


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